Have you ever received unfairly harsh criticism?

[cherrystark]

Two that stick out in my mind.

The first was about my art. I don't have a lot of disposable income so I learned to make my covers and promo images on Canva. I do good work and am happy with what I've made. I had a former friend that I met online in the forum whom I thought I could trust to give it to me straight. Every image I showed her her reaction was always very "Good job, sweetie". No ego stroking that we all pretty much are low key asking for when we show off our work.

She then started to repeatedly tell me that my work was too "vague". My main series, The Museum, was written to be in the same vein as Warehouse 13 and The Librarians. However there are a lot of other movies/series that focus around a magic artifact that could change the course of history. Every image I picked never seemed to convey the message. I digitally painted a pair of high heeled shoes in a pool of blood for a story about a murderous Cinderella - she shamed me for doing high heels and a fairytale retelling. She then sent me a ton of unasked for pictures of historic shoes and feeding me ideas of "better" plots if I had to do a story about shoes.

Her criticism felt unfairly harsh because she refused to read my work. All she knew of it was what I had told her in our conversations. The rest was speculation on her part. Even comparing me to her artist felt rough because her artist is a professional comic artist who takes commissions on the side. But she talks about her like she's her own personal artist that she keeps on private retainer.

After all that backstory, the other was just a bad review. The reader was making assumptions on my work based on the summary and first few chapters and called my work derivative. That hurt.

[LostKelp]

Most of the criticism I have received has been pretty mild, any big writing flaws in my stories weren't brought to my attention and I only realized them after the fact. There "your hand lettering is bad" which it was, and "this font choice sucks" which was true, and then there's "I saw a few spelling words, or is it done intentionally?" Which I think means I'm bad at spelling, which I am, but how ironic is it that someone telling me I'm bad at spelling said it like this?

If you're wondering, my big writing mistake that no-one pointed out to me was for this daily comic I did during the first covid lockdown, it was about this social hermit giving advise about surviving lockdown while going insane. The big writing flaw was that the main character was Biracial, his nice, dead mom was white, his emotionally cold father was black, his estranged boyfriend was black and the supernatural entity that showed up in his hallucinations to help him out of his terrible mental health was a self insert of me and therefore white.
It isn't super great that all the white characters were helpful figures in the MCs life while all the black characters failed the MC in some way, If I could go back I would show that the mom probably instilled the MCs hermit tendency and re-inforced their social anxiety, and I'd make my supernatural hallucination more of an entity than a defined person. That way everyone failed the MC, not just the black characters.
It's not surprising no-one pointed it out, my audience then was just schoolmates and family and thus, also white and even then my hand lettering was so garbage no-one could actually read it. Its important to examine your biases, I think that comics should be diverse, but that you should be concious about who is diverse in your comic. Lest you do something stupid, like me.

[AmazementComics]

When I was in grade five, one day I drew (or maybe just colored) a bird, and I remember being told by my teacher that the colors I used (red and blue) didn't go together. I don't think I said anything, but in my memory I must have had a strange look on my face, because if I am able to keep my mouth shut, keeping my thoughts off my face is a skill I still don't have. I wasn't hurt by that criticism at all: owing to an immense stubbornness and the inability to conform to anyone's expectations, I shrugged it off and kept right on coloring. I was somehow quite confident in the understanding that my teacher's opinion about color compatibility did not make sense, and wouldn't have mattered if it had.

I remember also being told in sixth grade that I “needed to get a life” by a classmate because I showed him my comics at the time. I haven't had much opportunity for real criticism, though I appreciate an honest critique, especially if it is backed up with specifics. When I do receive negative feedback I usually consider it fairly dispassionately: I am always looking to improve myself as an artist, so I welcome an outside perspective. If it is a helpful and constructive critique it may affect my artistic choices. Even if I disagree with the premise of the critique, it is still useful because it forces me to examine those choices, and strengthens my rationale for making them. Because of the experimental nature of my work I take a very fluid approach to technique and hold my vision loosely, allowing the drawing to lead me. I'm very adaptable in that regard: perhaps a bit too much, so criticism is helpful in that it brings a more conscious awareness to those instinctive choices. I feel I need this to grow as an artist: now that I've spent 17 years developing some level of technical mastery in my medium, I find myself more mindful of philosophical and aesthetic concerns.

Praise is often much harder to handle, though I have learned to accept it graciously: I can't stand false modesty. I find the concept of talent quite problematic. In the end it is just someone's opinion, and it gets in the way in terms of expectations. When I am at my most inspired I always have a profound sense that the work is coming through me, more than originating within me. It is easier to separate myself from my art when it comes to criticism, but praise comes with the pressure to live up to the hype, and ego definitely gets in the way when trying to establish that creative connection and get my head in the zone where art lives.

Criticism is helpful if genuine, and admiration for my work can give much-needed encouragement. The only feedback I can't stand is indifference: the casual dismissal or the tepid “How nice.” Art is meant to cause a reaction: even if it is negative, it has made the viewer think about why, and that's a good thing.

[hakei]

Sort of, regarding my comic.

A person left a comment on my instagram saying they couldn't get past the first few chapters and couldn't be invested in any of the characters — which, yeah I know my beginning is very rough since I was very new to storytelling & I've asked a few friends of mine for critiques before so I was aware —

but then went on to say I didn't deserve my following and they'd much rather have other titles be promoted over mine.

Which was very mean-spirited and made me wonder if the account was some salty creator's side account.

I take my friend's critiques because I know I can trust their level of expertise and they know what my intentions are with the plot/characters to frame their critiques. A random stranger on the internet? Eehh.

[powerplantanimations]

Alright. I think I should probably share my piece on this since I was a subject to pretty bad criticism that made no sense (had a guy that was like this HUGE BLACK HOLE that CONSTNATLY wanted me to fail, making me suicidal a couple of times)....

This is also coming from the perspective of someone who had this disease that made me VERY intolerant to things. Non-stop, I couldn't stop hating on stuff. I couldn't exactly write good either back then because my brain was scattered. I was your typical armchair critic. Of course, what I did was obviously wrong. I grew out of it. But I did develop this fascination for people who like to make mean-spirited comments.

Whenever someone says something unfair or harsh I just pull-up a chair and am like "alright, I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt... what's up?".

I try not to laugh at their comments. I try not to insult them back. I want to know how these people think. Because at the end of the day... I wanna know the people I'm attracting. They clicked on my comic for a reason. I wanna get as much data as possible if I'm going to continue being a professional writer.

Also, you never know. They might end up breaking out of their spell and end up being great writers themselves. Even after me finding internet debates to be silly now, I still could never subscribe to the belief that people online are just "some randos". A lot of the writers I met were randos on the internet too and if it wasn't for one of them my writing wouldn't be the way it was.

[abigaillmartin]

That was me and my younger brother I was like 13 or 14 and I always asked for his opinion but he never had anything nice to say about my writing or my drawings and I just stopped caring. seriously it’s exactly how it went for me what are the odds?

[XiuLyn_12]

A school friend of mine. We're not exactly friends, just sharing a class at the time.
I used to draw a panel of my OC, post it on Instagram, and tell the story in the caption. I'm really into fantasy at the time, so my OC doesn't look human. Once in a while, I post some fanarts as well.
Then this classmate of mine came to me and said, "I'd rather you post fanarts instead of your weird characters."
I'm not sure if it's considered a critique, but I was very hurt. Not long after, I archived all my OCs' posts and only posted fanarts. I don't make fantasy stories anymore too.
I knew I shouldn't be bothered by her comment, but I was too young to accept such criticism. Now, I don't care what people think. Although I'm still not doing fantasy.

[Katzalcoatl]

May I see your character in a dm (if you don't mind sharing)? I love fantasy and sci-fi.

Like you said, I am also not sure if it counts as criticism or just an opinion. But it would hurt anyone young to be told such things. It would be like someone telling you "your dress today looks much better than your usual clothing. I would prefer if you stopped dressing like your usual self."

For an adult it would be like meh whatever but for a teen or a young person it would hurt a lot.

It is a hard situation as it feels like they didn't insult you conciously. But it is good thing that now you don't care about such comments.

[vapidink]

Yep, got used to it ages ago. Helps to remember a lot of it comes from people who have never created anything themselves, or people who just want attention and get a kick from insulting people online. Honestly, it's just kind of funny, like the one comment that told me my story was bad and I should have drunk bleach instead to spare people my story. I loved that one because they couldn't even spell bleach properly, lol.

People have kind of backed off, mostly because I don't really care for their insults. Now a days, I mostly get people telling me I should word things differently. I would appreciate the advice if they didn't usually give me alternate wording that is worse, so that's fun.

It's hard at the start, but you get used to it. Skin only thickens after getting hurt so much, and it's easier to get through the rough times when you really love what you do. The only criticism that gets to me now is my mother's but that's universally crippling, lol.

[XiuLyn_12]

It's a very old art of mine. I have never developed the character further. So the art is not the best, but sure! I'll send it to you through DM.

It is a hard situation as it feels like they didn't insult you conciously. But it is good thing that now you don't care about such comments.

Yes, this is true. I was too young.

[candiedcotton]

Psh.

I'll be totally frank, I've looked at probably at least a hundred comics from people in these forums and dropped 99% in the first few pages/episodes. Mostly from the spam advertising threads all over the place. But yours was the first I subbed to, and I thought it was great. The artwork and comedy are really fantastic (and this was before I even put a toe into romance and had almost zero experience reading BL, lol).

I know you've worked hard for what you have because I've watched it myself, so fuck 'em.

Anyway.

This is less coming from a comic/story world and more game dev, because I think we've all gotten shitty comments on our art, so let me give an anecdote relating to 'making it'.

I've worked in the game industry for some time, but I always wanted to make my own. General consensus in the field is that it's nearly impossible for any solo developer to make a full, large-scale game alone. And most do give up. I spent years building a massive world by hand, modeling every character, every rock, every object. I designed complex AI from the ground up, and all kinds of crazy world mechanics. A deep, rich story. Went out and found people willing to volunteer as voice actors. I lost my two best friends (and the only friends I really had at the time) because they both were so viciously toxic and constantly telling me my game wasn't good, nobody would play it, I'd never finish it, etc.

I made 3k sales in the first month of release and I'm still coasting on that revenue quite some time later. It's become extremely popular in it's genre.

Just because something is hard to do, doesn't mean it cannot be done. Just because the people around you might not believe in you, doesn't mean you should give up on yourself. In the end, the only one you know for certain will always have your back, is yourself. If you choose that, at least.

I have always been very slow when it comes to art progression. I've been drawing seriously for longer than some people in this forum have been alive, and my art still isn't the best. That's after a sea of tutorials, classes, studying, piles of sketch books full of figure drawing and gestures, hands and feet, etc. I have been dissuaded by my entire family from doing art of any sort (they think it's rubbish or just satanism or something). Never could afford any sort of formal schooling and I never even went to high school, lol. I was a homeless kid since 13 to adulthood. I started drawing when I was on the street to peddle it to tourists, true story.

All long-winded, but the point is, there are so many things we do in our lives that other people determine the value of, from our relationships to our economic and social status, to who we love, and even, yes, to our artwork. But passion is what drives the artist-- literary or visual or whatever-- and I'd rather do something I love to do, than something other people prefer me to do.

[Lensing]

Are you guys annoyed by criticism sometimes?

I don´t feel like that normally with critique but I feel super annoyed
by the criticism by my singing teacher every week.
It´s pretty much her job to give me critique but 70% of it really
annoys me and doesn´t help me. 30% is good and things
I want to work on.

English pronounciation / Expressing are the most annoying points
for me. 1 I´m working on it and you will always hear that I´m a german
and that´s ok for me and 2 she is probably right about that but it´s really
hard for me to understand how to put it into my singing, especially after
watching her singing the songs with "feelings" and thinking that this is
not how I will act on stage

[WildMoonCrow]

Not since school days, honestly I’m more bothered by unsolicited “well meaning” advice than harsh criticism

[Lensing]

I know people like that
One of my best friends always points out the things she doesn´t like but she
does it in a nicer way than the person you mentioned. I told her once, I like
the honesty but that it feels like she doesn´t like anything I do

[cherrystark]

It sounds like you guys are still friends, which is good. I still have mixed feelings about my former friend. We started talking during the pandemic and she made me feel "valid" as a writer. But then I realized she was a toxic, pick-me girl who only wanted to be around "yes" men. I'm better off without her.

[thepenmonster]

Are you guys annoyed by criticism sometimes?

Yes, but just because people are always confusing opinion with critique, confusing who criticism is meant for, and operating under the belief that they're owed an audience.

If someone wants me to improve then they MUST put in the work to show me how they think it can be done. That is a critique. If they don't then it's merely opinion and a creator is within their right to entertain or dismiss it as they see fit.

Criticism is a form of opinion writing isn't meant for a creator. It's meant for the audience. Foolish is the creator who pays attention to it and assholish is the critic who brings it to them.

If someone is going to come up to a creator unsolicited, they should come up correctly. It's rarely done correctly and the end result is a waste of pixels.

[Lensing]

That´s pretty much on point

[adkahdj]

I've worked in the game industry for some time, but I always wanted to make my own. General consensus in the field is that it's nearly impossible for any solo developer to make a full, large-scale game alone. And most do give up. I spent years building a massive world by hand, modeling every character, every rock, every object. I designed complex AI from the ground up, and all kinds of crazy world mechanics. A deep, rich story. Went out and found people willing to volunteer as voice actors. I lost my two best friends (and the only friends I really had at the time) because they both were so viciously toxic and constantly telling me my game wasn't good, nobody would play it, I'd never finish it, etc.

Thanks for sharing this experience. I can relate to it since my project is like yours a sort of one person moonshot. I'm creating a website that teaches Japanese using what's called the 'nature method'. In other words it does use translation. Here is a screenshot of the first page to give you an idea.

So far I have created 100 pages and it covers for now about 500 words. My plan is to at least triple that. I made this because this is the kind of resource I wish existed when I started learning Japanese.

General consensus in the field is that it's nearly impossible

Same as in my case. I have even read comments saying it would be something 'undesirable' (I still wonder why lol).

Just because something is hard to do, doesn't mean it cannot be done.

Indeed.

Congrats for what you've achieved. It's sad you lost friends on the way.

[l_vi]

(post withdrawn by author, will be automatically deleted in 24 hours unless flagged)

[candiedcotton]

I totally get it. For what it's worth, I think your app is a cool idea, and I can easily understand it. You have the hiragana for monkey, with the kanji below (which is cool, because most apps don't teach kanji at all) and I think katakana for the banana?

Yeah, one thing I've come to realize is that the people most likely to put you down or try and dissuade you, are often the people who either couldn't go through with something themselves or have some other sort of confidence issue and they're just projecting out of spite.